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EDITOR
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Editorial
‘Fortnightly’
পাক্ষিক |
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Religious rights
of all protected: PM
Human Rights Report
Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina on Monday said religious rights of all
are protected in Bangladesh. She said Bangladesh has
set an example of religious harmony in the world by
celebrating all the religious festivals by all
citizens of the country irrespective of their
religions. The Prime Minister said this while
visiting Dhakeswari National Temple on the occasion
of Durga Puja, the biggest festival of the Hindu
community, which begins today. The Prime Minister
said the aim of her government is to build
Bangladesh with non-communal spirit where the
religious rights of all will be protected. "By
ensuring the equal rights of all religions, we all
with our united efforts will construct our beloved
motherland as a hunger- and poverty-free country.
We're running the government keeping that in our
mind," she said. She said, "The government wants to
build the country in a way where there will be no
poor, no homeless, no one will go hungry; everyone
will get the medial services and education-everyone
will lead a beautiful life." Sheikh Hasina said
everyone will perform their religious rituals
independently and properly with dignity and
festivity. "I want all people irrespective of their
religions and castes to perform their religious
rituals equally and the country will be built with
the Liberation War The Prime Minister said the
government always demonstrated a strong stance
against terrorism.
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BHRC & IHRC Human Rights Report on October 2018 in Bangladesh
Total 191 persons killed in October 2018
Human Rights Report:
The documentation section of
Bangladesh Human Rights Commission (BHRC) and
International Human Rights Commission-IHRC jointly
furnished this human rights survey report on the
basis of daily newspapers and information received
from its district, sub-district and municipal
branches. As per survey it appears that 191 peoples
were killed in October, 2018 in all over the
country. It proves that the law and order situation
is not satisfactory. Bangladesh Human Rights
Commissions extremely anxious about this situation.
In the month of October, 2018 average 7 people were
killed in each day.
The Law enforcing agencies and related Govt.
departments should be more responsible so that
percentage of killing October be brought down to
zero level. To institutionalize the democracy and to
build human rights based society the rule of law and
order must be established everywhere. Through
enforcing rule of law only such violation against
human rights can be minimized.
It appears from documentation division of BHRC:
Total 191 person killed in Number 2018
Killing for dowry 2, killing by family violence 21,
Killed due to social discrepancy 41, Political
Killing 6, Killed by Law enforcing authority 12,
Killed by BSF 2, Killed due to doctor negligence 5,
Kill due to abduction 7, Assassination 9, Mysterious
death 84, Women & Chilled killed due to rape 2.
Killed by several accidents: Killed by road accident
214, Suicide 13
Besides victims of torture: Rape 18, Sexual
Harassment 21, Torture for Dowry 5, Journalist
Torture 2.
Bangladesh's
private universities must offer a better workplace
Human Rights Report:
Human Rights Report:
A failure to treat staff fairly and consistently
impedes academic standards and hurts students
In March, the formidable Bangladeshi anti-poverty
campaigner Sir Fazle Hasan Abed delivered a searing
keynote speech at a conference on "assembly in
higher education" at the University of Dhaka.
Sir Fazle, who founded the international development
charity BRAC, the world's largest non-governmental
organisation, identified several key issues holding
back Bangladesh's university system. Overcrowded
classrooms, outdated courses and a failure to invest
in developing lecturers' teaching skills were
rightly pinpointed. So, too, was the overheated
nature of student politics, which has sometimes
spilled over into political violence on campus.
One important challenge missing from his speech,
however, was the lack of job security for teachers
at Bangladesh's private universities. This has a
corrosive effect: it demoralises lecturers, leading
them to regard teaching as a temporary job. This
inevitably affects the quality of their classes to
the detriment of students.
Unlike those at public universities, academics in
the private sector cannot join academic unions -
known in Bangladesh as teachers' associations - so
they find it impossible to speak out effectively
against injustice, difficult to defend their
academic freedom and tough to bargain with
university employers over pay and conditions. Only
Stamford University Bangladesh, established in Dhaka
in 2002 and nothing to do with its US near-namesake,
has allowed its faculty members to run such an
association.
The plight of academics in the private sector was
illustrated by an incident in July last year at BRAC
University, an institution founded by Sir Fazle in
2001. The sudden sacking of a law lecturer on a
12-month contract and his alleged manhandling by
three senior staff members, including the registrar,
prompted hundreds of students and alumni to take to
the Dhaka streets to demand his reinstatement. After
five days of agitation, the students got their wish.
Although some of the academic's colleagues
participated in the protests, the lack of a
teachers' association prevented them from taking
further measures to demand his reinstatement, such
as industrial action.
Ideas and Innovations for the Education Reforms in
Bangladesh
S. M. Rayhanul Islam
Human Rights Report:
Education is a crucial
sector in any nation. Being a major investment in
human capital development, it plays a crucial role
in long-term productivity and growth at both micro
and macro levels. This explains why the state of
education in Bangladesh continues to be our national
discourse at all levels. It is also important to
realize that discussions on education and its
reforms to make it contribute meaningfully to
national development should gradually and
systematically move away from a politicized to a
more analytical approach for revamping our
educational system. The book "Education and National
Development - Selected Papers from the 2008 and 2009
Conferences on Bangladesh at Harvard University"
brings together a select set of articles, which
attempt to explore the major concerns in the
education sector in Bangladesh. Contributed by both
Bangladeshi and Western scholars, the chapters were
chosen from papers presented at two conferences,
"Bangladesh in the 21st Century" and "Ideas and
Innovations for the Development of Bangladesh: The
Next Decade," held at Harvard University in 2008 and
2009.
The book begins with the article "Education
Priorities for Human Resource Centered Development
in Bangladesh", authored by Dr. Manzoor Ahmed
(Emeritus Professor, BRAC University & formerly a
Post-Doctoral fellow at Princeton University's
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International
Affairs) and Dr. James H. Williams (George
Washington University). This introductory chapter
provides a broad overview of the current education
scene of Bangladesh-from primary to tertiary
education-and the wide range of issues they
confront. The authors examine the present situation
of our education and its challenges and prospects
while exploring strategies, most importantly, the
need to develop human resources over the next two
decades. Providing data and analysis relevant to all
three levels of education - primary, secondary &
tertiary - the authors argue that the current
education system of Bangladesh is not equitable and
that the quality and content of education do not
serve the people in ways that can improve their
lives; nor can its continuation help reduce poverty.
Understanding the Human Mind and Its Effect on Our Behavior
S. M. Rayhanul
Islam
The human mind is the
most complex machine on Earth. It is the source of
all our thoughts and behaviors. Although we cannot
observe the mind directly, everything we do, think,
feel and say is determined by the functioning of the
mind. Our external behaviors are influenced by our
mind too. Psychologists have been emphasizing on
understanding human mind in order to understand
behavioral problems of human being so that we can
overcome those problems successfully and enjoy a
meaningful life. In this regard, the book "Mon o
Manosikata (Understanding the Mind)" is a very
timely initiative by Dr. Mehtab Khanam, a noted
Psychologist, counselor and Professor at the
Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology,
University of Dhaka. The book is divided into eight
main sections containing a total of 63 short
essays/articles written by the author that were
published earlier in the leading Bengali dailies.
Topics/essays related to 'Conjugal Life' are
discussed in the first section of the book. Needless
to say that 'love' is the most important ingredient
in husband-wife relationship in conjugal life. But
'Can love alone play the central role in sustainable
conjugal relationship?' - The author attempts to
answer this critical question in the introductory
chapter. Here she mentions a ground-breaking
research work conducted by Michael Gurian, an
American author, social philosopher and a marriage
and family counselor. Based on his two decades of
neurobiological research, Gurian explores that
romantic relationship between husband and wife
fluctuates at different stages in life. He has made
a profound statement about the role of men in modern
culture, and suggests a way for men and women to
thrive together in what he calls "intimate
separateness." The brain, Gurian argues, doesn't
just seek more intimacy; it also seeks less intimacy
at different times. Mental preparation before
marriage is very crucial for successful conjugal
life. Mehtab Khanam urges for introducing
'Pre-marital Counseling' which, she believes, can be
an effective strategy to maintain healthy
relationship in conjugal life.
The second section of the book focuses on the topics
related to children's healthy growth and
development. Children, in general, tend to grow up
to be a lot like their parents. Parents play the key
role in how their children turn out. If they do a
good job of parenting, it means children also get a
lot of good things from them! The author assumes
that parents with good self esteem tend to raise
children with more secure self esteem. For example,
parents who succeed in education tend to have
children who meet and even surpass their parents'
accomplishments. And while it is true that children
of divorced families are more likely to divorce, it
is also true that children of happily married
parents tend to find the same happiness in adult
relationships. Understanding the child is one of the
most important things that one should learn as a
parent. Parents need to bear in mind that each child
has a unique personality trait that remains
consistent throughout life. However, Dr. Khanam
observes, being a responsible parent is difficult
especially in this day and age when parents spend
more time working rather than being with their kids.
Understanding the child, hence, can be an effective
way of becoming successful in the art of parenting.
The next section of the book examines the issues
related to emotion and mental health. People who are
emotionally healthy are in control of their
thoughts, feelings and behaviors. They feel good
about themselves and have good relationships. They
can keep problems in perspective. The author
emphasizes on why we should take care of our mind.
Many of us spend an exorbitant amount of time and
energy - not to mention money - taking care of our
bodies, and trying to keep ourselves looking and
feeling our best. But when it comes to the mind,
less attention is paid. Taking care of the mind can
come as an afterthought, and often we think of the
mind as something outside of our own control.
Research states time and time again that the way you
take care of yourself is related to how long you
live and how happy you are. Those who take care of
their physical and mental health needs are much
happier. The fourth section focuses on the topics
related to women's self-reliance and development.
Mehtab Khanam observes that in many families girls
are not treated with due respect which ultimately
creates negative impact on family as well as
community.
Quake, tsunami
kills at least 30 on Indonesia's Sulawesi island
Human Rights Report:
A tsunami up to two metres (six feet) high swept
through Palu at dusk after the sleepy but growing
tourist resort was rocked by a 7.5 magnitude
earthquake.
Amateur footage shown by local TV stations, which
could not immediately be authenticated by Reuters,
showed waters crashing into houses along Palu's
shoreline, scattering shipping containers and
flooding into a mosque in the city.
"Bodies of victims were found in several places,
because they were hit by the rubble of collapsing
buildings or swept by tsunami ... but we are still
collecting data," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, National
Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman said on
Saturday.
Doctor Komang Adi Sujendra told Metro TV that 30
people were killed and their bodies taken to his
hospital, adding another 12 injured needed
orthopaedic surgery.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman
Nugroho declined to give an official death toll.
The Palu area was hit by a lighter quake earlier on
Friday, which destroyed some houses, killed one
person and injured at least 10 in the fishing town
of Donggala, closest to the epicentre, authorities
said.
The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the
second quake at a strong 7.5, after first saying it
was 7.7.
The quake and tsunami caused a power outage that cut
communications around Palu. On Saturday, authorities
were still having difficulties coordinating rescue
efforts without power and communications as the area
was rocked by aftershocks.
Metro TV played an amateur footage which showed
water remaining from the tsunami, a collapsed
bridge, large cracks in roads and buildings badly
damaged.
Tezar Kodongan, a resident of Palu who took one of
the videos, told the TV station some of the city
landmarks were broken. "There is no evacuation yet
in the disaster area," Kodongan added.
More than 600,000 people live in Donggala and Palu.
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